Ricardo Porto, CEO of Nexa Resources Peru, took part in the third day of conferences of Rumbo a PERUMIN, Central Peru Edition, with a presentation entitled “Innovation with a purpose,” where he explained that to be able to develop and conduct mining projects companies need to be recognized as socially responsible enterprises.

“Mining worldwide is going through a very interesting time thanks to energy transition. The world is looking for cleaner energy and it is making intensive use of metals to find it,” said Porto.

To achieve this, Nexa is working with the innovation Hubs, which have a collaborative approach to think of solutions to problems and needs. Porto added that in Peru they are currently collaborating with 9 allied companies.

“While trying to solve our issues as Nexa, we look to share with other companies the examples of innovation they have,” he noted.

Social projects

Tejiendo el Futuro (Weaving the Future) is the project that Nexa Resources Peru is currently undertaking in partnership with the Peruvian startup Runakay. This project benefits 20 alpaca-farming families from Pucayacu (Pasco), who are being trained to improve their breeding practices and the quality of the fiber they produce.

“This initiative uses a social innovation model which enhances the production and management capacities of Pucayacu’s Cooperative. The purpose is to give alpaca fiber an added value and that way help increase these families’ income,” explained Porto.

According to the presentation, this project reinforces the positive legacy the company seeks to leave the communities where it operates. The project also aligns with the company’s view of sustainability as the key to operational resilience.

Innovation projects

In addition, Nexa is developing an open model to stimulate innovation through its Mining Lab program.

“Mining Lab is the platform where we receive innovation from the market. We have received more than 100 proposals to work with multiple actors. There people can submit their solutions to different problems, such as the reduction of fuel consumption, water consumption, among others,” mentioned Porto.

Tailing reduction

He later pointed out that tailing management and reduction is one of the most important environmental issues for Nexa. That is why he talked about their project in Unidad El Porvenir (Pasco) to produce cement from tailings.

“We have a project with Concytec to produce cement. We want to manage to reduce tailing production by almost 15% and produce cement that can be used in our own operations,” he said.